"I love that my job offers me a range of opportunities to develop and improve my skills, experiences and knowledge."

I am now unscheduled care lead for East and North Herts CCG with responsibility for working with GPs and other partners to redesign urgent care services for local people.

It’s a very strategic role but day to day I manage a small team that provides daily support to health and social care colleagues and helps manage demand and capacity. For example, if an acute trust has delays in discharges, this can directly impact the patients who require admission from A&E.

A typical day gets going at 8am when my colleague checks information about the demand and capacity in local acute trusts, the ambulance service and community provider to establish how they are coping. If the day starts with more patients than beds, we undertake a series of escalation measures to get the system back to balance.   

I regularly work off site too, for example on work to redesign unplanned care services with CCG colleagues, or draft specification for an emergency department and clinical indicators.

Three year degree course at Derby School of Occupational Therapy

I worked in a variety of physical health roles after my occupational therapy training before becoming head of community occupational therapy and cardiac rehabilitation in west Hertfordshire, where I managed a multidisciplinary team.

I was then appointed assistant director of strategic planning following a primary care trust restructure which led to a role as assistant director of service redesign.

I love that my job offers me a range of opportunities to develop and improve my skills, experiences and knowledge. I can certainly say that no two days are ever the same! Being able to work operationally and strategically to deliver better services for patients is incredibly satisfying.